Operation Yamamoto

Operation Yamamoto (29-30 April 2017) was a covert Japanese military operation carried out during the Syrian Civil War. The operation had been in the works since January of 2015, when the Islamic State beheaded Japanese hostages Haruna Yukawa and Kenji Goto after the Japanese government refused to pay ransom to the jihadists. The Japanese government authorized the formation of the covert "Task Force Yukawa", consisting of elite Special Assault Team operatives, to cooperate with YPG and Syrian Opposition forces in the fight against IS on the ground in Syria. It took a while for Task Force Yukawa to become combat-ready, but it managed to secure a large amount of weapons and vehicles from the Japanese military without its activities becoming known to the public.

On 29 April 2017, Task Force Yukawa arrived in the Raqqa Governorate of Syria with assistance from the Kurds, and it sought to capture several key points along the road to the IS capital of ar-Raqqah in order to assist the YPG's advance on the city. Japanese operatives secured positions along ridges to the east and west and a road in the center, and the first shots were fired when IS militants crossed a bridge and headed down the road. The Japanese would engage in some sharp fighting along the main road, and they brought up armor and a troop transport to support their frontline troops. The Japanese managed to secure all checkpoints, and the troops on the ridge to the east braved fire from an IS T-72 tank, with the troops taking out much of the tank crew; only the gunner was left, and two Japanese soldiers managed to make it to the tank itself, posing in front of it for a photograph. The operation was a success, as the Japanese had successfully taken over the strategic points and handed them over to the Kurds. Task Force Yukawa returned home, and it is estimated that 36 Japanese and 89 IS fighters may have been killed, although the official figures were classified. The Japanese government went through a lot of hard work and toil to cover up the operation, as it would be one of the first combat deployments of the JSDF since World War II.